The Design Library Newsletter
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NEWSFLASH!!
OCTOBER 2013
Greetings!

    

The Design Library is proud to announce our acquisitions of collections from the   Abraham and Giorgio Correggiari archives. 

  

Silks from Gustav Zumsteg's Abraham in Zurich were loved by designers such as Yves Saint Laurent, Christobal Balenciaga and Jubert de Givenchy for being bold, beautiful and glamorous.    

Abraham Floral Designs  

Abraham's extensive archive of silks and garments was donated to the Swiss National Museum after the company closed. But the Design Library has acquired a large selection of paper impressions from a private collection. These designs display a diversity of style and motif - from modernistic geometrics to graphic florals.   

Abraham Geometric Designs

Abraham Floral Design Collage

During the second half of the 20th century the firm reached the top of the industry. One could see Catherine Deneuve wearing an Yves Saint Laurent dress of Abraham silk or Audrey Hepburn in an Abraham Givenchy.

  

In the 1940's, Zumsteg - who had worked his way up from the level of apprentice - became the director of the traditional silk company Abraham, transforming it into an international force. Parisian Haute Couture designers were among its best customers.

  

There seemed no end to his quest for a perfect pattern: an employee was once sent to Marrakesh, where Saint Laurent had a holiday home, to gain inspiration from the flowers there.

  

These Abraham designs are ready to be viewed in our New York or London offices.

 

Portions of text excerpted from Isobel Leybold-Johnson in Zurich, swissinfo.ch

 



The Design Library also announces the important acquisition of major collections from the Giorgio Correggiari Archive.

 

Giorgio Correggiari was a spontaneous designer who loved his work. There is a constant feeling of improvisation about his designs, and he thrived on the unexpected and the irregular.     

 

Correggiari Ethnic Designs  

After some years of designing leather, fur, menswear, womenswear, and childrenswear lines for several firms, he formed his own company in 1976, Giorgio Correggiari, to produce his own ready-to-wear collections. His frenzied, restless approach to his work rapidly made the company a success. His designs reflected his insatiable curiosity and thorough research into detail and themes.

Correggiari Nautical Designs
  
He had been known to pound the streets of Milan on foot trying to find someone who could replicate an original Liberty buckle; or stay up all night in his kitchen Correggiari Geometric Designs dyeing accessories to exactly the right shade to complement a collection. He also enjoyed pillaging junk shops and second-hand stores for original buttons or old velvet fabrics that could be reproduced or incorporated into his designs.

 

Among those who learned from the creative energy of Correggiari is Domenico Dolce who joined Correggiari in 1977. In 1980 Dolce met Stefano Gabbana at a nightclub in Milan and helped him get a job at Correggiari.  

 

Correggiari Ethnic Designs

The Design Library is delighted to add this archive from Giorgio Correggiari to our collections.      

Portions of text excerpted from Kevin Almond, http://www.fashionencyclopedia.com   


We look forward to showing you these newly acquired designs. Please call for an appointment in New York, London or your own office.

The Design Library Team

Hudson Valley, New York                                                  London, UK 
845 297 1035                                                                 020 7287 7336

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